Quercus ithaburensis

Quercus ithaburensis
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Rosids
Order:	Fagales
Family:	Fagaceae
Genus:	Quercus
Section:	Cerris
Species:	Q. ithaburensis
Binomial name
Quercus ithaburensis Decne. 1835
Synonyms[1]
List Quercus aegilops var. ithaburensis Quercus aegilops subspecies ithaburensis Quercus macrolepis subspecies ithaburensis Quercus aegilops L., rejected name Quercus agriobalanidea Papaioann. Quercus cretica Bald. 1895 not Raulin ex A. DC. 1864 Quercus echinata Lam. Quercus ehrenbergii Kotschy Quercus graeca Kotschy Quercus hypoleuca Kotschy ex A.DC. Quercus macrolepis Kotschy Quercus massana Ehrenb. ex Wenz. Quercus pyrami Kotschy Quercus ungeri Kotschy Quercus vallonea Kotschy Quercus vallonea A.DC. Quercus ventricosa Koehne

Quercus ithaburensis, Mount Thabor's oak, is a tree in the beech family.

It is found in Southeastern Europe, from southeastern Italy,^[2] southern Albania and Greece,^[3] and in southwestern Asia from Turkey south through Lebanon, Israel, Syria,^[4] and neighboring Jordan,^[5] whose national tree it is.

Quercus ithaburensis is a small to medium-sized semi-evergreen to tardily deciduous tree growing to a maximum height of around 50 feet (15 m) with a rounded crown and often with a gnarled trunk and branches. The leaves are 1.6-3.5 in (4–9 cm) long and 0.8-2.0 in (2–5 cm) wide, oval in shape, with 7 to 10 pairs of either teeth (most common) or shallow lobes (rare) along a revolute margin. They are dark glossy green above and gray tomentose below.^[6][7]

The male flowers are light green 2 in (5 cm) long catkins while the female flowers are small (less than 1/10 in (0.4 mm)), produced in 3's on short stalks called peduncles and are wind pollinated. Flowering occurs from March through April in most of its native range. The acorns are generally oval, up to 2 in (5 cm) long and 1.2 in (3 cm) wide with a cap covering roughly 1/3 of the acorn, maturing in 18 months, dropping from the tree in the 2nd fall after pollination. The cap is covered in long stiff loose scales which are rolled backwards or involute especially along the edges of the cap.^{[6][7] [8]}

References

1. The Plant List, Quercus ithaburensis Decne.
2. Altervista Flora Italiana, Quercus ithaburensis Decne. includes many photos
3. Baldacci, Antonio 1895. Malpighia 9: 351-352 in Italian, as Quercus cretica
4. Decaisne, Joseph 1835. Annales des Sciences Naturelles; Botanique, sér. 2 4: 348-349 description in Latin, commentary in French
5. Mouterde, Paul 1966. Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie 1: 365
6. Oaks of the World: Quercus ithaburensis
7. Wild Flowers of Israel: Quercus ithaburensis
8. Menitsky, Yu.L. (2005). Oaks of Asia. Science Publishers ISBN 1-57808-229-3.

External links

• Line drawing from Flora Palaestina